Such electropneumatic valve groups are known in various configurations from the prior art and are used as position actuators (activated by means of an electronic actuating signal) for actuating a pneumatic working element to be connected to the at least one working outlet (e.g. a pneumatic fitting or a pneumatic drive).
Since two power valves are actuated simultaneously there by means of one pilot valve each, i.e. by means of the control pressure generated at an outlet of the pilot valve, it is to be ensured, by suitable configuration of the valve group or of the power valves, that the two power valves exhibit the desired switching behavior.
Electropneumatic valve groups of the type mentioned in the introduction and already known from the prior art frequently use, for pneumatic activation of the power valves, straight ducts produced as bores inside a metal housing with, pressed therein, flow restrictors, with which the time variation of the control pressure supplied to a particular power valve and thus the switching times of the respective power valves can be adapted to the specifically desired switching behavior. Hereby the adaptation of the switching behavior of the valve on the part of the manufacturer proves to be relatively complex in relationship to fabrication. Furthermore, on the basis of the long bores, which must receive a corresponding flow restrictor, a relatively large volume is needed for the control pressure to be generated for the pilot valve, which then in turn leads to longer switching times.
Furthermore, a valve device with layered structure, in which two activation regions provided for activation of two power valves via a rocker switch are separated from one another, is known from EP 1 133 651 B1.
Against the background of the prior art depicted in the foregoing, it is the object of the present disclosure to configure an electropneumatic valve group of the class type in question in such a way that it can be manufactured inexpensively and also be constructed modularly in such a way that it can be adapted as flexibly as possible in particularly simple manner to various customer-specific requirements.